Australia launches $150m bioenergy fund

November 26, 2015

ByTildy Bayar

A new bioenergy investment fund has been launched in Australia with the aim of unlocking the nation’s waste-to-energy potential.

The $150m (AUD209m) Australia Bioenergy Fund will support investment in a range of projects including energy from agricultural, council, forestry and mining waste; anaerobic digestion; sustainably sourced biomass-to-energy projects; landfill gas capture; the conversion of forestry plantation waste to wood pellets and the development of biofuels for export.

The fund will target equity investments in projects ranging from $1.5m to $75m. When fully deployed, it is expected to eliminate more than 350,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The fund will be managed by Britain’s Foresight Group, which currently manages waste-to-energy funds for the UK Green Investment Bank and the European Investment Bank. Up to $75m in initial support will come from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

Oliver Yates, CEFC CEO, said: “The Australian Bioenergy Fund will help unlock important opportunities across the economy to harness waste and turn it into energy.

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“We see this new fund as playing an important role in accelerating and widening the market uptake of bioenergy and energy from waste technologies that have a proven track record overseas but are not yet widely deployed in Australia’s energy mix.”